Personal Safety Tracking Using an Apparatus Comprising Multiple Sensors

1. An apparatus, comprising: a processor; an accelerometer coupled to the processor, configured to measure acceleration of the apparatus and to generate an acceleration signal; and a water sensor coupled to the processor, wherein the water sensor is configured to provide a first signal at a first electrical contact, and to detect the first signal at a second electrical contact when a conductive path is provided between the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact, wherein the water sensor is configured to generate a submersion signal when the receiver detects the first signal, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive the submersion signal from the water sensor, receive the acceleration signal from the accelerometer, detect a first drowning situation when the acceleration signal matches a drowning acceleration signature and the processor receives the submersion signal and the acceleration signal in a first time period, and generate a drowning alert in response to the detection of the first drowning situation.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to detect at least one of an abduction acceleration signature and a neutral acceleration signature based on the received acceleration signal.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising a wireless transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, and a geo-location receiver configured to receive geo-location signals and to provide location coordinates of the apparatus to the processor, wherein the processor is further configured to use the wireless transceiver to transmit the location coordinates to a computing platform associated with the apparatus.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive location boundary information for boundaries of one or more areas, and to determine whether the apparatus is outside a boundary of the one or more areas.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to generate a wandering alert when the processor determines that the apparatus is outside the boundary of the one or more areas and detects the neutral acceleration signature in a second time period.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to generate an abduction alert when the processor determines that the apparatus is outside the boundary of the one or more areas and detects the abduction acceleration signature in a second time period.

7. The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising a water pressure sensor configured to measure water pressure and to generate a depth signal indicating a depth of the apparatus in a body of water; and wherein the processor is further configured to receive the depth signal from the water pressure sensor; and detect a second drowning situation when the depth of the apparatus exceeds a predetermined depth and the acceleration signal matches the neutral acceleration signature during the first time period.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising a wireless transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals, wherein the processor is further configured to use the wireless transceiver to transmit the drowning alert to a computing platform associated with the apparatus.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the computing platform associated with the apparatus is one of a smartphone, a computer, and a server.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein to detect the first drowning situation, the processor is further configured to: compare the acceleration signal to one or more predefined drowning acceleration signatures to determine whether they match; and determine that the number times the submersion signal is received by the processor exceeds a predetermined threshold during the first time period.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a water alert in response to the reception of the submersion signal, the water alert indicating that the apparatus is in water.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the drowning alert is not generated based on the submersion signal and acceleration signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an ambient temperature sensor coupled to the processor, the ambient temperature sensor configured to measure ambient temperature and to generate ambient temperature signals, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive the ambient temperature signals from the ambient temperature sensor, determine whether the ambient temperature, as indicated by the ambient temperature signals, has exceeded an upper ambient temperature threshold for a predetermined time period, and generate an over-temperature alert in response to the determination that the ambient temperature has exceeded the upper ambient temperature threshold for the predetermined time period.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an ambient temperature sensor coupled to the processor, the ambient temperature sensor configured to measure ambient temperature and to generate ambient temperature signals indicating the ambient temperature, wherein the processor is further configured to: receive the ambient temperature signals from the ambient temperature sensor, determine whether the ambient temperature, as indicated by the ambient temperature signals, has fallen below a lower ambient temperature threshold for a predetermined time period, and generate an under-temperature alert in response to the determination that the ambient temperature has fallen below the lower ambient temperature threshold for the predetermined time period.

15. A method for tracking personal safety via an apparatus worn by a user, the apparatus comprising a processor, an accelerometer coupled to the processor, and a water sensor coupled to the processor, the method comprising: measuring acceleration of the apparatus and generating an acceleration signal; providing a first signal at a first electrical contact of the water sensor; detecting the first signal at a second electrical contact of the water sensor when a conductive path is provided by the presence of water between the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact, generating a submersion signal when the first signal is detected at the second electrical contact; detecting a first drowning situation when the acceleration signal matches a drowning acceleration signature and when the submersion signal and the acceleration signal are generated in a first time period, and generating a drowning alert in response to the detection of the first drowning situation.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising detecting at least one of an abduction acceleration signature and a neutral acceleration signature based on the acceleration signal.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising receiving location boundary information for boundaries of one or more areas, and determining whether the apparatus is outside a boundary of the one or more areas.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising generating a wandering alert when it is determined that the apparatus is outside the boundary of the one or more areas and the neutral acceleration signature is detected in a second time period.

19. The method of claim 17 , further comprising generating an abduction alert when it is determined that the apparatus is outside the boundary of the one or more areas and the abduction acceleration signature is detected in a second time period.